Japanese biologists from the University of Tokushima used CRISPR technology to produce seedless tomatoes and do not require pollination. This was reported by Scientific Reports.
Kyiv. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – June 11, 2021 – Agriculture
Usually, parthenocarpic (seedless) fruits are found in many cultivated plants selected during selection as a product of a random mutation that occurred during millennia of cultivation. Scientists have been able to achieve the same in a matter of days with targeted gene modification using the CRISPR / Cas9 system.
The target mutation was introduced into the SlIAA9 gene, which led to increased production of auxins, plant hormones that stimulate fruit growth without seed formation. Elsewhere, the GM plants did not differ from the usual ones, only the leaves (their growth is also controlled by auxins) had a less cut shape.
In addition, new tomatoes do not need pollination. Such plants will have to be propagated by “cuttings”, which may incur additional labor costs, but it is possible to automate and robotize this task.
The authors note that before the advent of CRISPR / Cas9, several attempts had been made to obtain parthenocarpic tomatoes using GM methods of the previous generation, but all these works were extremely costly in terms of resources and time and not reliable enough. Whereas the new approach using CRISPR / Cas9 differs in speed, simplicity, and high accuracy of modification of the target gene.
Read also: How to Grow a Lot of Tomatoes in the Trench
Source: Ukrgate
